I'm now summarizing various sources of information. Some sources were not in English, so I translated them and/or presented them as block quotes.
Preliminary:
3 Parts Working Together for a Graphical Desktop Environment Display Server Protocols
In the future, I would choose Wayland over X11 as display server protocols, and that's my opinion, because Wayland represents a more modern alternative that is more efficient and secure. However, Wayland still has its bugs.
GDM (GNOME Display Manager) will automatically use Wayland when supported, except when using the proprietary NVIDIA driver, in which case it will fall back to X11 due to instability.
Is X11 better than Wayland?
X11 vs. Wayland: A Linux Display Showdown The choice between X11 and Wayland is a personal one, with no clear winner. X11 offers tried-and-tested stability, flexibility, and wider application compatibility. Wayland, on the other hand, shines with its smoother visuals, better security, and potential for future innovation.
Display Managers:
- GDM
- LightDM
- SDDM
- LXDM
- XDM
- MDM
- Qingy
Desktop Environments, these are some of the most commonly used desktop environments in Linux:
- GNOME
- KDE Plasma
- Xfce
- LXDE
- LXQt
- MATE
- Cinnamon
From these 3 parts, you choose what works best together or harmonizes well.
My best experiences (only my):
- Wayland, SDDM, KDE
- X11, LightDM, Cinnamon
- X11, LightDM, Xfce
I assume that your configuration is X11, GDM, and GNOME.
You could also try LightDM or SDDM and, as I mentioned, switch to Wayland.
Possible Solutions:
1. GRUB
What I wouldn't try at all is changing the layout in GRUB, as GRUB only affects the keyboard layout during the boot phase and not on the GDM login screen. However, you can give it a try.
2. Debug, Logs, Errors
What you definitely need now is the debug mode and the logs to identify the sources of errors. What isn't clear from the question is whether /etc/gdm3/Init/Default is being executed and ignored or if it isn't executed at all.
If GDM is failing to work properly, it is always a good idea to include debug information. To enable debugging, set the debug/Enable key to true in the <etc>/gdm/custom.conf file and restart GDM. Then use GDM to the point where it fails, and debug output will be sent to the system log file (<var>/log/messages or <var>/adm/messages depending on your Operating System).
Old posts:
Board Tip, Add Log Output for Verification:
To check if the Default script is actually being executed, add a simple logging line to the script.
For example, add something like the following at the beginning of the script:
sudo nano /etc/gdm3/Init/Default
#!/bin/sh echo "GDM Init Default script executed at $(date)" >> /var/log/gdm-init.log setxkbmap fr bepo_afnor
This will create an entry in /var/log/gdm-init.log when the script is executed.
Make sure the script is executable:
sudo chmod +x /etc/gdm3/Init/Default
Restart GDM:
sudo systemctl restart gdm3
Check if /var/log/gdm-init.log exists and if there are any entries.
Possible GDM Error Logs:
sudo journalctl -xe | grep gdm
sudo journalctl -u gdm3
sudo grep gdm /var/log/syslog
cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log
GDM Debug Logs:
If you have debugging enabled in /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf
[debug] # More verbose logs # Additionally lets the X server dump core if it crashes Enable = true
dmesg
Useful for checking if there were any issues during the boot process that could affect GDM.
dmesg | grep -i gdm
dmesg | grep -i keyboard
dmesg | grep -i layout
Where the "g_debug" output in GDM source code?
3. GDM Configuration Files and Scripting Integration Points
Check Scripting Integration Points section.
GDM has a number of configuration interfaces. These include scripting integration points, daemon configuration, greeter configuration, general session settings, integration with gnome-settings-daemon configuration, and session configuration. These types of integration are described in detail below.
The GDM script integration points can be found in the <etc>/gdm/ directory:
Xsession Init/ PostLogin/ PreSession/ PostSession/
greeter.dconf-defaults
Create or edit and add or modify the following
sudo nano /etc/gdm3/greeter.dconf-defaults
[org/gnome/desktop/input-sources] sources=[('xkb', 'fr+bepo_afnor')]
sudo dconf update
Sometimes if you do changes to the keyboard layout it requires updating the initramfs
sudo update-initramfs -u
If the script /etc/gdm3/Init/Default is not being executed, it suggests that GDM may not be invoking it, as this might vary depending on the system configuration or changes in newer GDM versions.
3. Use the custom.conf Try adding the keyboard layout settings directly to GDM's configuration file
sudo nano /etc/gdm3/custom.conf
[daemon] DefaultSession=gnome XKBLayout=fr XKBVariant=bepo_afnor
4. Check GDM's Environment Script
GDM load setting from /etc/X11/Xsession and other scripts in /etc/X11/Xsession.d
Edit and add:
sudo nano /etc/X11/Xsession.d/00-keyboard.conf
setxkbmap fr bepo_afnor
5. Force Layout in Xsetup
Edit and add:
sudo nano /etc/gdm3/Xsetup
setxkbmap fr bepo_afnor
sudo systemctl restart gdm3
6. keyboardlayout XKB_DEFAULTS, setxkbmap
XKB options can be overridden by the tools provided by some desktop environments such as GNOME and Plasma.
7. dpkg-reconfigure keyboard gdm and debian keyboard layout(new and old posts) check for:
8. gnome control center, check for:
- gnome control center gdm login screen layout
- region and language gdm3
- change keyboard layout gdm3 login screen
gnome-control-center is a graphical user interface to configure various aspects of GNOME. When run without arguments, the shell displays the overview, which shows all available configuration panels. The overview allows to open individual panels by clicking on them.
9. Settings in /etc/default/keyboard
Set system-wide keyboard settings that are also used by GDM. Change the layout in /etc/default/keyboard for GDM.
10. Adjust Logind Configuration
Modify the keyboard layout settings in the logind configuration /etc/systemd/logind.conf
11. Modify GDM Xsession Scripts
Edit the file /etc/gdm3/Xsession and explicitly set the layout for the login session.
12. localectl set-x11-keymap
- localectl list-x11-keymap-models
- localectl list-x11-keymap-layouts
- localectl list-x11-keymap-variants [layout]
- localectl list-x11-keymap-options
The system keyboard layout will be applied to GDM. You can use localectl set-x11-keymap to specify the keyboard layout. See Keyboard configuration in Xorg Setting keyboard layout for details.
